Kogeto Dot

Many cameras and smartphones are capable of capturing stunning panoramic photos, with their wide field of views and expansive scenes, but few, if any, can claim to capture panoramic videos. The Kogeto Dot ($79 direct) is a truly unique gadget that turns your iPhone 4 or 4S into a 360-degree panoramic camcorder. The Dot is elegantly designed, and the videos are fun, interactive, and immersive for anyone viewing, even if the quality of the video leaves something to be desired.

Design and Use
The Kogeto Dot is a simple, lightweight accessory that easily snaps on and off your iPhone. However, you will have to remove any case you have protecting your iPhone, leaving it vulnerable to bumps and drops. The main component is the lens, which measures roughly an inch in height and 1.25 inches in diameter. It positions itself over the camera on the back of the iPhone, and employs an extremely thin plastic mount to stay securely in place. The whole effect is quite elegant, though the protrusion makes it a bit odd to keep in your pocket.

Once in place, you'll need to download Kogeto's Looker app, which is available for free in the Apple App Store. Start the app, calibrate the lens position (simply drag a marker to the right position) and you're ready to shoot 360-degree video, which Kogeto calls dotspots.

When Kogeto says "shoot 360-degree panoramic video from the palm of your hand," they really mean it. To get the best video, you have to hold your iPhone somewhat awkwardly, with the screen facing down in the palm of your hand. You can also grip the phone on the sides with your fingers, but in my tests, it was difficult to keep my fingertips out of the shot. The Dot provides pretty much no protection, making its screen-down use a bit precarious.

Check out a quick tour of the PCMag Labs using the Kogeto Dot. Click and drag within the video to see all 360 degrees.

Performance and Conclusions
The Looker app limits you to 8 minutes of video, but this never proved too short for my uses, and fits the novel purpose of the Dot. The quality, on the other hand, is pretty poor, with warped, pixelated video. The distortion is to be expected with such an odd lens, but the pixelation really detracted from the video.

Even so, watching the results is the best part. The videos don't show all 360-degrees at once; instead, you swipe back and forth to choose what you're seeing at any given moment. In other words, you have complete control of what you're looking at, in real-time, within the video as it plays. The effect is quite immersive, making for a great way to give virtual tours, or capture crowds and performers at a concert, to give just a few examples. Once you've recorded some dotspots, you can share them directly to Twitter, Facebook, and Kogeto's own website, making it fun and easy to share your videos with friends. Looker also has some basic video trimming and flipping options, for polishing your video a bit before sharing.

There really aren't a lot of options out there for 360-degree, interactive videos. Complicated cameras with multiple lens arrays can achieve a similar effect, but none are as simple and easy to use as the Dot. In terms of apps and iPhone accessories with similar functionality, outside of a few Kickstarter projects, the Dot stands alone. At $79, the Kogeto Dot is not cheap. But if you can deal with the grainy video quality, the end result is a truly unique, fun, and interactive way to capture any moment with your iPhone 4 or 4S.

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